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This x1000 and it's not going to get the attention required at home until it all goes tits up.

It's ludicrous to expect lightly armed and armoured troops to go up against Hezbollah who are armed with the best that Iran can supply. I've seen nothing in the media about any Government reaction to this " new " mandate . I suppose because it doesn't name Ireland and the Irish specifically in the way that the original outburst fro Ambassador Haley did.

The United Nations’ peacekeeping mandate in southern Lebanon, in which Ireland is heavily involved, has been renewed and strengthened but only after further personalised attacks by the Trump administration on the Irish head of Unifil, Major-General Mike Beary.

The renewed mandate asks UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to examine whether Unifil can increase its visible presence, including through patrols and inspections, both of which it already does.

On Wednesday night during the Security Council debate about the mandate renewal, Mr Haley returned to the fray, claiming the “clouds of war” were gathering in south Lebanon and once again attacking Maj-Gen Beary.
“We have to be honest,” she told the Security Council. “For too long, Unifil’s leadership has failed to make sure this goal is realised. In particular, Unifil commander General Beary’s lack of understanding of the threat Hizbullah poses to the region is baffling.”

Senior colleagues of Maj-Gen Beary also spoke out in his defence, noting he had an extensive track record, both at senior rank within the Defence Forces and the UN, including senior positions within Unifil prior to his assuming command, and was a graduate of the National Defence University in Washington DC.
“He’s the real deal as far as we’re concerned,” said one colleague, “and he’s very well regarded, in Ireland and abroad.”

From what i've been told privately there's a touch of the old " whatever you say say nothing " about all this , for in reality what could a UNIFIL patrol actually do except complain/ protest if they did see bunkers being prepared and loaded ?

Should UNIFIL be deeply concerned about the latest political movements from Saudi Arabia? First Hariri resigns, while visiting Saudi Arabia, and has not been seen since, he is believed to be under House Arrest. In his resignation announcement he blamed Hezballah i.e Iran, for destabilising the political situation. Then Saudi and the other Sunni states tell their citizens to get out of Lebanon.

Saudi, UAE, Kuwait urge citizens to leave Lebanon
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have advised their citizens not to travel to Lebanon and urged those who are in the country to leave as soon as possible.
Saudi Arabia's official news agency SPA quoted a source in the foreign ministry on Thursday as saying: "Due to the situations in the Republic of Lebanon, the official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Saudi nationals visiting or residing in Lebanon are asked to leave the country as soon as possible.
"The Kingdom advised all citizens not to travel to Lebanon from any other international destinations."
Only hours later, Kuwait and the UAE also urged its nationals to leave Lebanon immediately.
Bahrain - an ally of Saudi Arabia - had already ordered its citizens to leave Lebanon on Sunday, with the Bahraini foreign ministry issuing a travel advisory that cited "safety considerations".
Leave of absence
Lebanon has been on edge after the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who announced his departure while on a visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
His whereabouts have since been unknown. However, officials told Al Jazeera on Thursday that Hariri may be under house arrest or temporarily detained in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Lebanon's Future Movement party, which is headed by Hariri, demanded on Thursday that the prime minister returns from the kingdom immediately in its sharpest statement yet over his leave of absence.
"The return of the Lebanese prime minister, the national leader, Saad al-Hariri, and the head of the Future Movement, is necessary to restore the dignity and respect to Lebanon at home and abroad," said a former prime minister, Fouad Siniora, in a statement read on TV.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Lebanon said that the country's President, Michel Aoun, would soon call for assistance from the international community, the Arab League, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Russia - to help uncover the reason behind Hariri's unexpected resignation.
Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, citing a senior Lebanese official, that the Lebanese government has not received Hariri's official resignation papers, and as such still considers him as prime minister. The official added that the restrictions imposed by Saudi Arabia act as an "attack on Lebanon's leaders".
Riyadh has denied that the prime minister is under house arrest.
'War declaration'
In his November 4 resignation, Hariri implicitly blamed Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, for his decision. In his speech, he said that he suspected there were plans to target his life.
His father, Rafik Hariri - who also served as prime minister - was killed by in a bomb attack in 2005. Many of Hariri's supporters blamed the bombing on Hezbollah, which denies it was involved.

In his address from Riyadh, Saad al-Hariri said Iran planted "disorder and destruction" in the country and meddled in the internal issues of Lebanon as well as other Arab countries.
Referring to Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, Hariri said, "Iran's arm ... has managed to impose a fait accompli on Lebanon through the power of its weapons" in the last few decades.
"They have built a state within a state," Hariri said from Riyadh.
His unexpected move also stoked fears of an escalation in the regional divide between Iran and the Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia, with Lebanon on the front lines.
Thamer al-Sabhan, the Saudi minister for Gulf affairs, said on Monday that Lebanon's government would "be dealt with as a government declaring war on Saudi Arabia" because of what he described as "acts of aggression" committed by Hezbollah.
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Sabhan said Hezbollah was involved in every "terrorist act" that threatened Saudi Arabia.
"The Lebanese must choose between peace or aligning with Hezbollah," he added, without offering details about what action Riyadh might take against Beirut.
Hariri, a leading Sunni politician, has been in office for less than a year, but previously served as prime minister between 2009 and 2011.

poor previous results have never been that important in determining Saudi policy - and one could argue that Saudi's would be foolish to just accept Irans success. perhaps they are following the Red Army model of not reinforcing failure but using their resources to open another front, and if that doesn't work, bin it and open yet another front.

one might well have a shrewd idea as to who will win this war between KSA and Iran, but given that KSA, and one assumes Iran, see the conflict as an existential one, they aren't likely to stop opening up new fronts and meekly accept defeat just because one, or two, or three go bad.

From some time next year, the Finnish will be withdrawing from the Irish-Finn Battalion and increasing their contingent in the Force Commander Reserve (FCR) with the French, where they already have a Company.

It will be interesting to see if there will now be a full Irish Battalion overseas for the first time since 2012, if the Government/DoD will allow it.

From some time next year, the Finnish will be withdrawing from the Irish-Finn Battalion and increasing their contingent in the Force Commander Reserve (FCR) with the French, where they already have a Company.

It will be interesting to see if there will now be a full Irish Battalion overseas for the first time since 2012, if the Government/DoD will allow it.

whats better for the DF - in your various opinions - having 2 Coy(?) sized groups permanantly on two seperate ops, or having a Bn sized group intermitently on one op?

so, for example, having a Bn Grp deployed for 6 months, everyone comes home, do 12 months re-furb and build up, go again for 6 months, rinse and repeat...

Not 100% sure what you mean??

Have say an Irish Bn with UNIFIL for 6 months, completely pull out for 12 months (ie no rotation) and then deploy again for both 6 months????
Completely non sensical!! The logs (and sharing of the opportunity of places) would be a huge waste of resources.

We possibly could look at consolidating the 2 Inf Gps into a single Bn sized force having said that would UNDOF be able to find a replacement?!

The only issue would be Mowags with the refurb program, but it's still very much feasible.
Scrap any plans to take part in any pointless EUBG that would require Mowags in the next three years and deploy the cars to Lebanon.

I can honestly see the Government/DoD saying there aren't the resources available to increase overseas commitments and in the next breath say they have decided to take part in a useless EUBG that would require the same amount of resources.

The only issue would be Mowags with the refurb program, but it's still very much feasible.
Scrap any plans to take part in any pointless EUBG that would require Mowags in the next three years and deploy the cars to Lebanon.

I can honestly see the Government/DoD saying there aren't the resources available to increase overseas commitments and in the next breath say they have decided to take part in a useless EUBG that would require the same amount of resources.

Exactly
Even before the refurb though there isn’t enough to do both (haven’t said that I meant a Bn Gp as per the palette of forces)